[TowerTalk] TA-33 Mosley Senior-Choke Balun needed?

[Lee Buller]

Wow,
 
What a great question and what a great bunch of answers.  I too have used the TA-33 and have used the recommended choke balun, a 1:1 balun with a toroidal core, and feeding the thing directly.  From a practical aspect of acutally using one, I thought I would weigh in on the discussion.  This is not a scientific white paper, but one old-timer telling of his experience with the antenna.
 
Although I could not quantify the pattern for each of the methods, I can tell you this:  The TA-33 will radiate poorly in any direction it is pointed.  As far as I was concerned the TA-33 could have been a dipole or even a high 50 ohm resistor because it did not radiate very well with any of the feed point methods.  Yes, the are thousands of TA-33s out there but I think they are a poor antenna.  I have seen quite a ffew of them in the grass near the tower or hung on the fence while a TH6DXX or a Force12 is on the tower.
 
Yes, you could work DX with them....wait long enough and the pile up will get thinner or you might get lucky and find a lull, but it is not a very good antenna.  As a three element beam and compare it to another 3 element beam (TH6 or TH7) the TA-33 is not even in the same class.  FB is terrible...forward gain is poor...but what makes the antenna work very well for most hams is that it loads well.  It made the SWR meter look good in the shack.  Something that loads well does not always radiate well.  (Thanks Captain Obvious)
 
Well, I could go on.  I have one tied to the fence in the back yard and will make a deal if anyone wants it.
 
Lee - K0WA